Camera having face detection and with automatic focus control using a defocus amount

Abstract

A camera has a face detecting section, a focusing section, and a controlling section. The face detecting section detects a face area in a shooting image plane. The focusing section calculates a defocus amount based on a relative distance of a pair of images of a light beam that has passed through a shooting lens in each of a plurality of optional areas in the shooting image plane. The controlling section designates a focusing area among the optional areas based on an output of the face detecting section and performs a focusing operation of the shooting lens based on the defocus amount in the focusing area.

1. A camera comprising:
 an imaging section that generates an image data by shooting a subject; 
 a face detecting section that detects at least one face area in a shooting image plane by performing a face detecting process on the image data generated by the imaging section; 
 a focusing section that calculates a defocus amount based on a pair of images of a light beam that has passed through a shooting lens of the camera in each of a plurality of optional areas in the shooting image plane; and 
 a controlling section that designates a focusing area among the optional areas based on a detecting result of the face area detected by the face detecting section and performs a focusing operation by controlling the shooting lens based on the defocus amount in the focusing area, wherein the face detecting section detects a face area by performing a face detecting process on the image data within the shooting image plane from which an area that cannot detect a focus at any of the optional areas is excluded. 
 
     
     
       2. The camera as set forth in  claim 1 ,
 wherein said controlling section designates said optional area which is closest to a center of said face area as said focusing area when there are a plurality of said optional areas corresponding to the face area among the at least one face area detected by the face detecting section. 
 
     
     
       3. The camera as set forth in  claim 1 ,
 wherein said controlling section designates said optional area corresponding to positions of eyes of the face area as the focusing area when there are a plurality of the optional areas corresponding to the face area among the at least one area detected by the face detecting section. 
 
     
     
       4. The camera as set forth in  claim 3 ,
 wherein said controlling section designates said optional area closest to a center of the shooting image plane as said focusing area when there are a plurality of said the optional areas corresponding to positions of eyes in said face area. 
 
     
     
       5. The camera as set forth in  claim 3 ,
 wherein said controlling section designates said optional area closest to a subject eye corresponding to said face area as said focusing area when there are a plurality of the optional areas corresponding to positions of the eyes in said face area. 
 
     
     
       6. The camera as set forth in  claim 1 , wherein, in a case when a number of the face areas detected by the face detecting section is two or more, the controlling section adjusts a depth of field based on the defocus amount obtained from the plurality of the optional areas corresponding to the face areas detected by the face detecting section.